April 3

YOU CAN'T MISS: EDUCATIONAL GAMES
This seems to relate a little less to design than the usual posts, but it was the only new one...

"For designers, predicting what customers want—not what they say they want or what they think they want—proves to be one of the barriers to innovation. Innovation contradicts confinement, and comes from that ability to strategically let go and play. But what if you could take your clients to a place where they felt comfortable, more inclined to open up?"

Luke Hohmann has written a book about how to get more information out of consumers for your clients. Not by doing market research, but instead by playing games. Hohmann's philosophy is that instead of being multiple choice, like surveys for market research often are, games allow for open ended answers and a certain amount of creativity that research doesn't allow. It gives room for elements of the unexpected.

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/playing-for-a-living

RESPONSE: INTERVIEWS
Hearing from just the three trends assignments was really interesting. At times it seems like finding a job will be a really tough thing, but there are so many options out there. And if the option you want isn't out there, it doesn't seem so out fo the ordinary that with a lot of hard work that option could be created.

The designer I interviewed, like Christine's, began in an introductory design position. The company that publishes Minnesota Monthly has several other publications. She began at one of the other publications designing ads and eventually moved to MNMO where she is now the senior designer.

It was also great to hear about Glamour, where there is still a fight for every element of creativity although it's a very commercial magazine.

CRITIQUE:
I had a very non-design filled break, but I have started to think about my next vox work, which will be for the sexual myths section of the reproductive health issue. The story involves 20 sexual myths and the first draft is really interesting!
Right now i'm thinking I'd like to do some really cool treatment of the numbers, somehow combining each fact and forming it into a number. This seems a little over-zealous and it'll be interesting to see if it pans out. This is something I could see easily turning out much crummier than I imagine it.





I want something along the lines of the little guys here, but with a different tone. Maybe without people at all.